Rick Croy was named the California Baptist University men’s basketball head coach in the spring of 2013 and completely revitalized the program. In twelve years, Croy’s Lancers boast a 250-128 overall record, including a 160-43 mark at home.
In the 2024-2025 season, Coach Croy led the Lancers to a 17-15 overall record and 9-7 conference record. Croy guided the Lancers to the WAC tournament for the fifth consecutive season where they defeated #6 Tarleton State to reach the semifinals for the first time in program history. The Lancers defeated Grand Canyon at home and finished the season with double digit home wins while achieving their best conference tournament seeding at #3. Dominique Daniels Jr. received All-WAC First Team and All-District Second Team for the Pacific Region and Bradey Henige received All-WAC Freshman Team under Croy's tutelage. CBU's WAC Tournament win over Tarleton marked Croy's 250th career win as the Head Coach of the Lancers.
In the 2023-24 season, Coach Croy became the youngest active head coach in the NCAA to reach 350 wins doing so at age 46. For the third consecutive season, Croy guided the Lancers to the WAC Tournament where they defeated #5 Utah Valley in the opening round before falling to Seattle U in the Quarterfinals.
Coach Croy guided the Lancers to a 17-16 finish on the 2022-23 season, recording the fifth-straight winning season since making the jump into the NCAA Division I ranks and the tenth straight since taking over the helm in the spring of the 2013 season. The Lancers also won their second WAC tournament game with a win over Abilene Christian 69-62 in the first round.
In 2023, Croy passed Jerry King to become the all-time winningest coach in CBU men's basketball history in a win over NJIT and currently boasts a top-20 winning percentage among active DI head coaches.
Croy helped guide the program through the DI transition and helped them post their first-ever DI postseason win in 2022 after defeating UTRGV in the first round of the WAC tournament in Las Vegas.
The Lancers also recorded their fifth major award in the WAC, after sophomore guard Taran Armstrong was named to the All-WAC Second Team after winning WAC Freshman of the Year in 2022. Armstrong joined Milan Acquaah and Brandon Boyd as the three players to grab the top awards, as Acquaah was named the 2019 WAC Newcomer of the Year and 2020 WAC Player of the Year, while Boyd was named 2020 WAC Newcomer of the Year. The Lancers finished the 2022 season with their second postseason bid at the College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Florida.
During the 2020-21 season, Coach Croy recorded his 300th career win as a head coach, joining an all-star cast of coaches across the country as one of the fastest to 300 wins in his career. With the win over SE Louisiana on Dec. 4, 2020, Coach Croy moved to 14th all-time among the top college basketball coaches at the NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II levels.
Over the past ten years, 25 players have earned all-conference honors, with a bunch of Lancers grabbing top honors. Taran Armstrong recently joined that group as a member of the All-WAC Second Team and as the 2022 WAC Freshman of the Year. Ty Rowell was named First Team All-WAC in the 2020-21 season, and Gorjok Gak claimed Second Team All-WAC, All-Defensive Team, and All-Newcomer Team. Milan Acquaah was named the 2020 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the 2019 WAC Newcomer of the Year in his two seasons with the Lancers. Acquaah was a two-time First Team selection and was named on the Lou Henson All-American team following the 2020 season. Brandon Boyd became the second Lancer to earn the WAC Newcomer of the Year award, and De’ jon Davis was named on the WAC’s All-Defensive Team. Michael Smith was the first Lancer to be named the PacWest Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Gelaun Wheelwright was named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year following the 2014-15 season, while Chris Brown picked up the inaugural Defender of the Year award in 2013-14. That year, Croy was named the PacWest Coach of the Year and a Clarence Gaines Award Finalist, while Ryan Berg became the first-ever player to be named the Player and Freshman of the Year in the same season.
In year three of the transition period, the Lancers went 13-10 on the season and 6-6 in the Western Athletic Conference to take the fourth seed in the WAC Basketball Tournament. It marked the Lancers’ first time in the WAC Basketball Tournament after the board shortened the eligibility period to two seasons.
In CBU’s second season in the Division I era, the Lancers produced their first 20-plus win season with an overall record of 21-10 to finish second in the WAC standings. In the first two seasons of Division I play, the Lancers have combined to win 37 games - a new NCAA record for most wins in the first two years of a transition program.
CBU’s finished its first Division I season with 16 wins in 2018-19, which is the most by a first-year NCAA Division I program that is considered an RPI counter during the four-year transition process. The team also became just the second first-year D-I program to qualify for postseason play by qualifying for and hosting the first round of the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
During the Croy era, the Lancers have gone to the NCAA Division II tournament every year, from 2014-18, and spent 59 weeks in the NABC Top-25 Poll. CBU has won PacWest regular season and conference tournament titles, including two first-place finishes in conference.
For the first time in program history, Croy led the Lancers to win the West Regional championship during the 2017-18 season and advance to the Elite Eight. CBU finished the year with a 28-6 overall record, including a 19-2 mark in the brand new Events Center. It capped off a stellar Division II run through Croy as the Lancers begin their transition to Division I and the Western Athletic Conference in the Fall of 2018.
In 2016-17, Smith went on to be named the West Region Player of the Year after establishing himself as the all-time leading scorer in both CBU and PacWest history. That year, CBU made its fourth-straight NCAA Division II tournament appearance.
The year before, the Lancers finished with a 28-7 overall record and 15-5 conference mark for first place. It was the third-straight 20-plus win season and tied a program record with 28 wins, but the most program wins in NCAA. They went on to dominate the PacWest Conference Tournament, downing rival Azusa Pacific 101-64 in the championship game to win their first tournament title.
That year, CBU grabbed its highest NABC ranking with a No. 4 spot on Nov. 24, during its record of 14-straight weeks in the poll carried over from the 2014-15 season. Smith was named the PacWest Player of the Year, PacWest Tournament MVP, PacWest All-Tournament, All-PacWest first team, All-West Region and All-American after hitting the 1,000 career point mark in the middle of the season and leading the conference in scoring for most of the year. Wheelwright also hit the elusive 1,000 career point mark in under two seasons as a Lancer. It led to him being named All-PacWest First Team, PacWest All-Tournament, All-West Region and West Region All-Tournament.
During the 2013-14 season, his first at the helm, Croy led his team to set two new records: program-best start and longest win streak after starting the season 16-0. The Lancers went on to grab as high of a No. 7 NCAA Division II ranking and finished the year with the program’s first-ever PacWest Championship title and a 24-4 overall record, 18-2 in conference.
Prior to CBU, Croy spent the past three years as the lead assistant coach at NCAA Division I St. Mary’s. During his time working under Coach Randy Bennett, the Gaels went 80-22 overall, winning two regular-season West Coast Conference championships and making two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Before St. Mary’s, Croy spent five years as the head coach at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. During his stint there, he quickly staked his claim as one of the state’s best junior college coaches, compiling a 130-35 record, which included the program’s first-ever state championship in 2008.
He led the Fighting Owls to three straight Western State Conference titles (2008-09-10) and an appearance in the 2010 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Final Four. He was a three-time WSC Coach of the Year, going 92-9 in conference games in that span. Citrus was 35-1 in 2008, 28-5 in 2009 and 29-3 in 2010, the best three-year run in the state.
During his time at Citrus, 13 players moved on to the NCAA Division I level, and 97 percent (36 of 37) of his players went on to four-year schools.
Croy’s ties to Riverside run deep. His first-ever coaching job was a two-year stint at UC Riverside, working under Head Coach John Masi in 2000 and 2001. He worked the 2002 season as the associate head coach at Concordia University in Irvine under Head Coach Ken Ammann, recruiting the class that went on to win the NAIA National Championship in 2003.
In 2002-03, Croy returned to UC Riverside as the top assistant to Masi for three years before taking the Citrus job. While at UCR, Croy recruited the Big West Freshman of the Year (Nate Carter), the Big West Defensive Player of the Year (Vili Morton), and UCR’s all-time leading scorer (Larry Cunningham).
Croy played collegiately at San Francisco State, ranking among the program leaders in five categories, including holding the school record for 3-pointers (167). He is second in games played, third in assists and steals and eighth in scoring. Croy was a three-time All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) selection and led SFSU in scoring three straight years.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from San Francisco State in 1999, and a master’s in education/physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2001. He and his wife Jamie – who played basketball and volleyball at St. Mary’s – have a daughter (Kayden) and a son (J-Rob).
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|
|
OVERALL
|
CONFERENCE
|
|
|
YEAR
|
SCHOOL
|
W
|
L
|
PERCENT
|
W
|
L
|
PERCENT
|
CONFERENCE
|
| 2005-06 |
Citrus College |
17 |
13 |
56.6 |
5 |
7 |
41.6 |
Western State |
| 2006-07 |
Citrus College |
21 |
13 |
61.7 |
7 |
5 |
58.3 |
Western State |
| 2007-08 |
Citrus College |
35 |
1 |
97.2 |
12 |
0 |
100 |
Western State |
|
2008-09
|
Citrus College
|
28
|
5
|
84.8
|
11
|
1
|
90.6
|
Western State
|
|
2009-10
|
Citrus College
|
29
|
3
|
91.6
|
12
|
0
|
100
|
Western State
|
| 2013-14 |
CBU |
24 |
4 |
85.7 |
18 |
2 |
90.0 |
PAC WEST |
|
2014-15
|
CBU
|
26
|
7
|
78.8
|
16
|
4
|
80.0
|
PAC WEST
|
|
2015-16
|
CBU
|
28
|
7
|
80.0
|
15
|
5
|
75.0
|
PAC WEST
|
|
2016-17
|
CBU
|
26
|
5
|
83.9
|
17
|
3
|
85.0
|
PAC WEST
|
|
2017-18
|
CBU
|
28
|
6
|
82.4
|
17
|
3
|
85.0
|
PAC WEST
|
|
2018-19
|
CBU
|
16
|
15
|
51.6
|
7
|
9
|
43.8
|
WAC
|
|
2019-20
|
CBU
|
21
|
10
|
67.7
|
10
|
6
|
62.5
|
WAC
|
|
2020-21
|
CBU
|
13
|
10
|
56.5
|
6
|
6
|
50.0
|
WAC
|
|
2021-22
|
CBU
|
18
|
16
|
52.9
|
7
|
11
|
38.9
|
WAC
|
|
2022-23
|
CBU
|
17
|
16
|
51.5
|
8
|
10
|
44.4
|
WAC
|
| 2023-24 |
CBU |
16 |
17 |
48.4 |
8 |
12 |
40.0 |
WAC |
| 2024-25 |
CBU |
17 |
15 |
53.1 |
9 |
7 |
56.2 |
WAC |
|
Citrus College
|
|
130
|
35
|
78.8
|
47
|
13
|
78.3
|
|
|
California Baptist
|
|
250
|
128
|
66.1
|
120
|
76
|
61.2
|
|
|
California Baptist (D1)
|
|
118
|
99
|
54.3
|
54
|
61
|
46.9
|
|
| Career |
|
380 |
163 |
70.0 |
172 |
89 |
66.0 |
|
